Although I am biased, I know Simon Damant and his local team worked very hard to make the event a success. It would certainly be a good idea if people felt motivated enough to write to the Property Manager at Wimpole Hall to say how they enjoyed the event, as sometimes some parts of the National Trust hierachy don't fully appreciate the importance of this type of event

Although I am biased, I know Simon Damant and his local team worked very hard to make the event a success. It would certainly be a good idea if people felt motivated enough to write to the Property Manager at Wimpole Hall to say how they enjoyed the event, as sometimes some parts of the National Trust hierachy don't fully appreciate the importance of this type of event

and here's a pic of Gavin working his magic on my step daughter who had a fab weekend making stuff!

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Thanks Davie!Glad your step daughter enjoyed herself. I did! BTW: that contact is not the National Trust website, but rather a generic stately homes website. Do you know if there is some other contact specifically for the Wimpole Hall Property Manager? Or may be you know from personal experience the one you quoted works to contact Property Manager?

My 6th BB and as always enjoyable and informative, but where was Joe Public? It was partly the crappy weather that kept them away, but also the distance from the main house can't have helped.Thanks to the organisers and to the National Trust.

anobium wrote:My 6th BB and as always enjoyable and informative, but where was Joe Public? It was partly the crappy weather that kept them away, but also the distance from the main house can't have helped.Thanks to the organisers and to the National Trust.

Although the field is a bit of a walk from the house, it was very near to the farm (and its cafe); I believe access was for visitors who had bought tickets for to the farm and gardens.

In the summer, we (Wimpole lathers) have set up near to the farm/cafe (in the donkey paddock, to be precise) and also by the house for the Christmas craft fair, and our antics seemed to attract quite a bit of public interest. I'm not sure how well signed the event was from the farm, so I'd suggest that the lack of Joe public was either down to the weather, or because we didn't really encorage them all that much. I had assumed that it was open to the public to please the NT, rather than because they were particularly wanted ..?

Last edited by TonyH on Tue May 21, 2013 5:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

TonyH wrote: I had assumed that it was open to the public to please the NT, rather than because they were particularly wanted ..?

My personal opinion: I LIKE the fact that you'll be chatting with people at the Bodgers Ball who most likely have some knowledge of greenwood processes, and/or who are mad keen to get more knowledge and/or from whom I do learn many ideas. And I like that when my fellow Shed Therapists come along to BB, they will definitely add to their skill sets.

You get plenty enough folk at shows that are open to the public who will consume your enthusiasm and then do nothing with it, or worse want to tell you about when they made a [fill in the blank] ... or their grandad used to make.... [fill in more blanks] That's fine if I am paid to be there, but no-one pays me to attend BB. My presumption at BB is This person wants to learn, or s/he has something to offer: either way, education will arise between us. But on a normal, public showfield my presumption is This person wants entertainment or I can attempt to sell something to this person - only a very few want education.

I'd be interested to know if there was any overt official committee policy about discouraging public access - or possibly just a covert lack of one, leading to the same thing: not much marketing of the event to bring in the public. Either way, I like the way things are.